What impact has the pandemic had on global house prices?
The Global House Price Index tracks the movement in mainstream residential prices across more than 50 countries and territories worldwide using official statistics Global House Price Index Research, Q3 2020
2 minutes to read
The data in this report covers the year to September 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was widespread across most markets although large parts of Europe and Asia were seeing case numbers moderate.
Turkey leads the index for the third consecutive quarter with annual price growth of 27%. However, in real terms once inflation of 14% is deducted, annual price growth sits closer to 13%. Overseas interest from the Middle East and a buoyant economy are bolstering prices, GDP increased 16% in Q3 compared to Q2.
New Zealand (15%) jumped from 11th to second place between Q2 and Q3 as the country saw demand increase post-lockdown. Residential sales totalled 8,618 in Q3 2020, up 41% from 6,112 a year earlier.
Ukraine (10%) and Russia (9%) have also moved up the annual rankings and now sit within the top ten.
Figure 1 highlights the impact of the pandemic on house prices and the extent to which it varied from country to country. With many housing markets frozen in Q2, some saw a sharp rebound in sales and prices in Q3 (New Zealand, UK and the US), others witnessed only a marginal impact on pricing (China, France, Germany), and finally some have seen price growth move into negative territory (Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain). Markets such as the UK, New Zealand and some Indian cities had an additional boost either in the form of a stamp duty holiday or relaxed mortgage lending rules.
Overall, the index continues to post annual growth of between 4% and 5.5% as it has done since early 2017 but the percentage of markets registering a fall in prices year-on-year is climbing, up from 2% in Q1 2020 to 16% in Q3 2020.
Ireland, Spain, India and Hong Kong are amongst those countries and territories witnessing the weakest price growth year on- year.
Read the report in full here
For further information lease contact Kate Everett-Allen
Photo by Johnny Bhalla on Unsplash